1. Field of the Invention
Newspaper delivery in rural areas traditionally requires the placement of a delivery box beside a street or road, the box being located such that a newpaper may be deposited therein from a vehicle such as an automobile or bicycle. This delivery box is conventionally attached to the side of a mailbox or is supported by a separate post, usually located near the mailbox.
While this arrangement is adequate under some circumstances, it would be advantageous to have the newspaper delivery box and mailbox "stacked" to provide the required firm, substantial support of the mailbox and delivery box utilizing one support post. There is a need for this type of unit especially in the case where a large number of mailboxes are positioned in side-by-side relationship to serve, for example, a large rural appartment complex.
Additionally, a newspaper delivery box often becomes wet on the inside, and especially on the bottom, during a rain shower or the like, resulting in a newspaper becoming wet and unreadable when deposited in the box such that it lies directly on the bottom thereof. It would be desirable to provide a means to prevent the newspaper from becoming wet by avoiding any direct contact of the newspaper with the bottom of the box.
Due to the growing demand by the public for information and news, both local and international, it has become a custom for individuals to subscribe to more than one newspaper. The positioning of more than one newspaper box upon or near a rural mailbox is inconvenient as well as unsightly. In the case where one large delivery box may be utilized for more than one newspaper, the plurality of newspaper are apt to become disarrayed and rumpled within the box, especially if the newspapers are not esentially the same size and are not supported in a formed fashion by some means, such as in rolled form supported by a rubber band.
2. Description of the Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 3,243,104 -- Fillion discloses a newspaper receiver combined with a mailbox and supporting post. While this reference generally provides a stacked newspaper box-mailbox combination, several inadequacies remain. The reference requires that the mailbox be attached thereto at all times to provide a top for the newspaper receiver. In the instant invention, it is not essential that a mailbox be positioned on the newspaper delivery box in order that the box is in condition to receive newspapers. The mailbox may be removed from the newspaper delivery box of the invention for any period of time, in the case of damage to the mailbox or malfunction of the front closure thereof, for example, without hindering the function of the delivery box. Additionally, a special support post is required as part of the reference structure, whereas the newspaper delivery box of the instant invention is provided with a universal mounting means generally adapted to be supported by an existing mailbox support means. Further, absolutely no means are provided within the reference structure to prevent the structure from retaining water on the bottom thereof as a result of rain or the like, which would cause a newspaper deposited therein to become moisture-laden and unreadable.
Applicant's U.S. patent application Ser. No. 700,918, filed June 29, 1976, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,026,461, the teachings of which are herein incorporated as reference under the authority of Section 608.01(p) of the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure, discloses a newspaper support insert for use in a newspaper delivery tube comprising a horizontally corrugated wedge of about one-half the length of the delivery tube, the support possessing a reversely turned forward clamp to engage the lower front edge of the open end of the tube and at least one drainage hole in each trough of the corrugated surface. The purpose of this insert is to support a newspaper above the bottom of the delivery tube to prevent the newspaper from becoming wet from water which has been retained in the bottom thereof. While this insert generally provides a means to prevent the newspaper from lying on the bottom of the delivery tube, it has been found that on occasion, especially in the case of small local newspapers, the newspaper becomes positioned on the support such that the portion of the newspaper nearest the back of the tube, due to a tipping action caused by the corrugations of the insert coupled with the comparatively light weight of the relatively small newspaper, becomes damp or wet from small amounts of water located in the rear portion of the delivery tube.